Monthly Archives: March 2013

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The self-appointed Fukushima expert, manufactured anti-nuclear hero, and Fukushima minimizer Arnie Gundersen is now saying 20% to 30% of the cesium at the destroyed units 1, 2 and 3 of the Daiichi plant has escaped containment. According to Gundersen, this is a “game-changer” and maybe Fuku is almost as bad as Chernobyl now.

Well, forgetting the absurdity that Chernobyl is in any way comparable to Fukushima in scope, with enormous cesium contamination reported in Japan, with the entire North Pacific ocean polluted with radioactivity, sea lions dying and washing up on the west coast, Australia reporting 20% to 40% increases in background radiation two years after the catastrophe started (where Chernobyl was barely detectable there), we should note that everyone with at least half a brain knows there have been three melt-throughs at the plant, not a little dribble of corium that has escaped containment. Gundersen is denying the obvious, and is pretending to say something meaningful, in that his estimate far exceeds Tepco’s estimate that 1% of the cesium escaped, which is even more absurd.

On April 19, 2011, I published this note on The Japan Earthquake scribble:

Note high levels of Ba-140 and La-140 on March 15-16. Lanthanum-140 is the daughter product of Barium-140.

(from Neeb, The Radiochemistry of Nuclear Power Plants With Light Water Reactors, pp. 518-519), The SFD 1-4 test was performed… “high-burnup fuel heated to high temperatures in a steam-starved environment”, “a small-break initiating event with limited steam supply to the fuel bundle was simulated”, “the post-test damage state of the bundle… appeared to be quite analagous to that of the damaged TMI-2 core”. If a TMI-style meltdown occurred, using Dr. Saji’s inventory figures (below), there would have been a 23:1 ratio of I-131 to Te-129m released. The Takasaki figures indicate a 1:2 ratio. The data do not support this scenario.

According to “TELLURIUM PRECURSOR EFFECTS ON IODINE TRANSPORT IN A BWR ACCIDENT” http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/17/025/17025467.pdf
“This study describes the increase in iodine activity released to the atmosphere during a severe accident due to the radioactive decay of tellurium precursors… here it is seen that the iodine activity in the atmosphere is due disproportionately to I-132. Unlike the longer-lived isotopes, most I-132 (half-life of 2.30 hr.) existing early in the accident will decay before the significant atmospheric releases which follow reactor vessel failure. However, the supply is replenished by the decay of Te-132, which is released in large quantities from the drywell rubble.”

Takasaki is almost 100 miles from the Fukushima plant. Thus most of the I-132 which was released would be decayed. The large amounts of I-132 detected must have come from the decay of Te-132.

From p. 533, “Upon contact, the molten core material (the so-called “corium”) starts to react with the material of the basemat concrete… when the reaction zone is flooded with sump water… the highest temperatures might be reached… the molten-core – concrete interaction is the principal source of the release of the low-volatility fission products to the containment. The volatilization of these elements, such as barium, strontium, lanthanum, and cerium, is strongly supported by the gas bubbles which penetrate through the molten zone.”

Note again the high concentrations of barium and lanthanum, and that of tellurium.

Conclusion: The emissions observed at Takasaki were not due to a TMI-style accident, but one in which corium interacted with concrete and water. This released significant concentrations of barium, lanthanum, and strontium into the atmosphere.

So it was obvious early on that there had been a molten corium-concrete reaction in units 1-3. The conclusions were based on CTBTO measurements, independent of Tepco, whose (faked) measurements Gundersen has been mostly using. Arnie is still denying any significant interaction with corium and concrete.

Going on to p. 533 of the Neeb document, simulations involving corium-concrete interactions are described in more detail. The first step of the molten core-concrete interaction is high-temperature decomposition of the concrete accompanied by the production of gases, mainly H2O and CO2, followed by melting of the concrete materials and their incorporation into the melt. As a consequence, the erosion of the concrete will start with the formation of a cavern, in which the melt separates into two phases, a lower metallic one which is covered by a lighter oxidic phase, with the former containing metallic fission products like ruthenium, technetium, palladium, and the latter containing barium, strontium, and other oxides… The heat production in the oxidic phase of the melt is mainly due to fission product decay heat, whereas in the metallic phase the exothermal metal-water reaction is the main contributor.
Due to the very high temperatures prevailing during this stage of the accident, the molten core-concrete interaction is the principal source of the release of low-volatility fission products to the containment. The volatilization of these elements, such as barium, strontium, lanthanum, and cerium, is strongly supported by the gas bubbles which penetrate through the molten zone… In addition to the comparatively high temperatures, the changed chemical conditions are also responsible for this enhanced aerosol production.

The first table above represents an estimate of the percentage of elements released into air and water, using standard nuclear fuel. Note that less than 0.1% of the strontium (Sr) is released. Now, according to Dr. Saji, there are around 7 times more becquerels of strontium in the fuel inventory than cesium. In a previous post, Strontium-90 in the Pacific, it was found that by June 2011, strontium-90 levels in the Pacific were 2.65% that of cesium-137. This is considerably more than predicted, and indicates a much more severe accident than the authors had simulated.

A study released recently found that large amounts of radioactive silver, Ag-110m, have been detected. According to the table, 3% of the silver would have been released. This also indicates a more severe accident than contemplated before.

The second table indicates simulated radioactive releases using MOX fuel, which was used in unit 3. Here 97% of the silver is released. Also note that 87% of the noble gas krypton-85 is released in this scenario. The entire inventory of the noble gas xenon-133 was released from the plant within the first 5 days of the catastrophe. It was further found that more than 100% of the xenon was released, which begs the question of further meltdowns that we have not been told about. See The mystery of the extra xenon-133.

But the most important thing to notice is that in both simulations, 100% of the cesium is released during the melt-throughs. This means that all of the cesium that has been released from the plant since the early stages of the catastrophe is coming from the spent fuel pools.

Cesium levels in river sediment near Kashiwa jumped by 3,700% in 3 months recently, according to Fukushima Diary. Fog in Tokyo deposited over 4,000 Bq/kg of cesium in one day, recently. Some of the cesium is being resuspended into the atmosphere by the burning of contaminated tsunami debris, but it must be that the vast majority of the cesium released into the air and sea is from the pools.

You have to wonder if this is even possible with semi-functioning spent fuel pools. Maybe some or all of the contents of the pools leaked out of them early on, and what we have here is a slow-motion meltdown event in pools 1-4, and the common pool. SFP 1 and the common pool contain an enormous amount of cesium. Since no independent scientific organization has been allowed into the Daiichi plant (contrary to Japanese law), we have no way of verifying that the pools are actually intact.

The underground coriums are leaking strontium, americium, uranium, and plutonium. Re-criticalities in these coriums are releasing iodine-131, iodine-129, and a host of other isotopes into the air and sea. The ratio of strontium to cesium in seawater, previously at 2.65%, has now reached 44%.

It should be clear that Arnie Gundersen, who by all accounts is a competent nuclear engineer, is deliberately distorting the facts in an egregious manner. Any anti-nuclear persons, organizations, and message boards that support him should also be questioned.

Tokyo Web is reporting that Toshihiro Horiguchi, chief of the National Institute for Environmental Studies, and colleagues have found that the Ibonishi sea snail, or Thais clavigera, is no longer to be found in a 30-km zone of coastline near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

This snail is widespread near the coast of Japan. The cause of this was not the tsunami, which occurred in this area, but also areas further north in which this snail has not disappeared.

According to Wikipedia, “This species has been found to be useful as an indicator of the environmental contamination levels of arsenic, copper, and zinc.”

Chernobyl researchers studying local lakes and rivers have found that “The freshwater snails have great importance for the processes of radionuclide biogenic migration in aquatic ecosystems. Due to ability to accumulate practically all of radionuclides which registries in water these invertebrates can be considered as bio-indicators of radioactive contamination of aquatic ecosystems.” Snails are an indicator of radioactive and heavy metal pollution. The freshwater snails near Chernobyl were found to have very high rates of chromosome aberrations. However, it is not stated that whole species died off there.

There is a new study out with strontium-90 (and strontium-89) levels measured in the Pacific ocean. (It is available here in pdf form.) These measurements were taken in May-June 2011. They found that most of the Sr-90 came from direct discharge into the ocean at that time, rather than by atmospheric deposition.

They found that the amount of Sr-90 came to 2.65% to that of cesium-137. They remarked that Tepco found that this ratio was 0.01% Sr-90 to Cs-137 in topsoil (Tepco is lying, of course). But then they said that there was an accidental discharge of Sr-90 into the ocean in December 2011, and these results only apply to the time before that.

MEXT published a study of strontium and cesium in seawater for the period Oct. 24 – Nov. 9, 2012. There are 5 measurements which contain both Sr-90 and Cs-137. The average ratio here is 44%. This is much higher than the 2.65% found in June 2011.

Tepco has been attempting to purify contaminated water. The decontamination system does not remove Sr-90. Guess where it’s going? Also, strontium volatilizes at 1400 degrees C, and the underground coriums and spent fuel pools may have risen to this temperature since the initial melt-throughs, due to criticalities or cooling system failures. Tepco is planning to dump contaminated groundwater into the ocean, so plan on seeing this rise still further.

Also, the authors found strontium-89 levels to be no more than 4.3 times those of Sr-90. But Dr. Saji estimated that the inventory of Sr-89 was 15 times that of Sr-90. Something is not right. Sr-89 is a highly energetic radioisotope with a half-life of 50 days. It is more dangerous in the short term than Sr-90, and typically there is much more of it. The Sr-89 from the initial meltdowns has decayed, but the damage has already been done to our bone marrow, and its ability to produce T-cells to fight infections and regulate our immune systems. Inflammation, leukemia, bone cancer, and autoimmune diseases like atherosclerosis may result.

On Monday the three main British political parties came to an agreement to create a Royal Charter for press regulation based on the recommendations of Lord Leveson, which also hints at draconian powers over the internet which may extend across national borders. Inevitably, at the table in the small an hours of Sunday night was the shadowy lobby organisation Hacked Off, which had pretended to act as public watchdog at the Leveson Inquiry while representing powerful global interests , meanwhile including as an adviser the pharmaceutically aligned former Member of Parliament Dr Evan Harris, who collaborated with Brian Deer on his “MMR investigation” . The implication of the charter in its draft form is that it may even attempt to control what is said about British concerns by British citizens on foreign websites, with the threat of legal retribution. The key clause comes in Schedule 4 (1b) (Page 21) :

“relevant publisher” means a person (other than a broadcaster) who publishes in the United Kingdom:

i. a newspaper or magazine containing news-related material, or
ii. a website containing news-related material (whether or not related to a newspaper or magazine)”

If this happened powers could plausibly be used to limit informed comment on such things as the vaccine programme and the causes of the autism epidemic according to bureaucratic consensus, as we have already seen effectively happens in the British media for the most part without statutory controls, and as is also now being threatened in Australia.

There has been a power outage at the Daiichi plant. Cooling has stopped at the SPF units 1, 3, and 4, and the common shared fuel pool.

Breaking: The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant outages, seems to have also stopped cooling of the shared pool. In the fuel storage pool body 6377.

Mail from the Regulatory Agency. Following quote. Indicating that around 18:57 today, from TEPCO, important building seismic isolation of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant loses power temporarily, was contacted. After reviewing your site, but for water injection into the reactor of Unit 1, 2, and 3 and no problems have arisen, abnormality occurs in the power supply system, the following equipment with this stop ……

[Alert] All power’s been down in Fukushima plant for over 3 hours, Tepco investigating the reason http://fukushima-diary.com/2013/03/alert-all-powers-been-down-in-fukushima-plant-for-over-3-hours-tepco-investigating-the-reason/

[News] The cooling system of the spent fuel pool (continued) The prospect of recovery does not stand. By According to the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, of the power plant, that there was trouble in the vicinity of high-voltage cable that leads to the power distribution board, TEPCO I are looking into the cause.

Currently, have stopped at power failure of unknown cause,
“spent fuel pool alternative cooling system (No. 1,3,4)”
“part of the gas management system containment” of Unit 3
adsorption unit “cesium (Kyurion facilities “three) as said TEPCO Should I be concerned power failure of the cooling system alternative spent fuel pool is a few days “device cesium adsorption” again in the event of an emergency I would not Itala (Kyurion) problem “3 would be where part of the gas management system containment vessel of Unit “What part of what is a time difference of 3 hours of presentation at 10 pm the lights at 7:00 pm But there would be information that is hidden from the thing of TEPCO I think everyone would have decision-making body should become panic-stricken from the past behavior patterns of TEPCO ‘s called I just do not know what to do state that is a concern

CRIIRAD has published the following graph of iodine-131 levels in Rhône river water in Avignon, France. They had recently re-calibrated the detectors to show lower levels of radiation. Even so, there has been a huge spike.

The presence of iodine-131 indicates fission. Fukushima Diary reports fallout in Fukushima prefecture is at its highest since last April.

Clearly, the Daiichi plant is out of control. We have entered the season with maximum deposition of radionuclides in the northern hemisphere – March through June.

Sea salt aerosol (SSA) particles are formed predominantly by the action of wind on the ocean. The wind stress on the ocean surface forms waves, some of which break and entrain air to various depths. The bubbles thus formed rise to the surface, creating whitecaps, and burst, injecting seawater drops into the atmosphere. Seawater drops are also produced from bubbles produced by other mechanisms… Additionally, under sufficiently strong winds, drops are torn directly off wave crests…

Once produced, some of the drops, depending on their size and on meteorological conditions (primarily wind speed), are entrained upward by turbulent eddies – small parcels of air with fluctuating vertical velocity components which characterize the small-scale motion of the marine atmosphere – and by large-scale convection, while others fall back into the sea…

Many investigations have dealt with the influence of SSA on the formation and microphysical properties of fog and rain and its role as an important component of cloud condensation nuclei. Sea salt aerosol is a primary contributor to the ocean-atmosphere fluxes of organic substances, electric charge, radioactivity, microorganisms and viruses, and pollen.

So all sorts of substances in the ocean are entrained upwards in drops, and some of them become condensation nuclei for rainfall, which then moves over the continent. These include radioactive substances, but also cyanobacteria and fungi, which are already destroying Hawaii’s coral reefs, and the deadly cyanotoxins and mycotoxins that these organisms secrete.

Sea-to-land transfer has been observed and reported near the British Nuclear Fuels plc Sellafield Works, Cumbria, England, the Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment, Caithness, Scotland and the reprocessing works at Cap de la Hague, Normandy, France. In Cumbria, where the effect has been most fully investigated, plutonium, americium and radiocaesium discharged to the Irish Sea from Sellafield have been observed many kilometres inland.

So plutonium, americium, and yes, cesium are found in sea spray which migrate 20 kilometers inland. This is bad news for people who live near the Pacific coast.

This will go on basically forever, considering the long half-lives of some of the plutonium and uranium nuclides. The contaminated water will eventually spread to other oceans. Already cesium has been found in North Atlantic fish, due to deposition from the atmosphere.

Tritium and carbon-14 are the most likely isotopes to re-enter land. Tritium is simply radioactive water and is evaporated. These two nuclides are the most harmful to plant life.

Just another tidbit of deception exposed from Helen Caldicott’s orchestrated Fukushima cover-up in New York.

It’s too bad we couldn’t hear about the 22,000 excess deaths of Americans in the first 14 weeks after the Fukushima disaster. After all, this was Mangano’s research too. Instead we got to hear somebody talk about 2,000 max deaths worldwide. Hmmm. Who was the moderator that said the hypothyroid results was the first evidence of medical harm in the US from Fukushima? What about 22,000 dead people? Is this not medical harm? (I found 53,000 dead in America for 2011. http://optimalprediction.com/excess-deaths-in-the-us-in-2011-after-fukushima/)

And we heard about the Stohl data and how they use atmospheric models and CTBTO data to estimate the Fuku atmospheric release. But NONE of these papers include ANY mesaurements of radiation in the upper air or jet stream, no weather balloon or aircraft data. ALL these papers assume NO radiation went into the jet stream. But here (http://optimalprediction.com/radioactivity-in-the-jet-stream/) we find radiation off the chart in the jet stream. There have been measurements from people in airplanes who found their Geigers have very high levels of radiation displayed. And the rain and snow measurements, too plentiful to mention, also attest to this (http://optimalprediction.com/radiation-in-rain-not-going-away/).

And the nonsense about 80% of Fuku radiation went into the Pacific is just that. This also assumes no radiation in the jet stream.

Mangano, Mousseau and Yablokov are courageous researchers. So is Majia Nadesan. But I believe that this symposium proves the ABSOLUTE INABILITY of academia to deal with this crisis. Enenews, Jeff Rense, environmentalreporter.com, Majia’s blog, this blog all have mountains of info in them pertaining to the US radiation situation. This conference was by and large, sadly deficient in presenting even simple facts like mutated sunflowers in California. It was a “business as usual” thing that degenerated in standard anti-nuclear nostrums (and some pro- ones) and wasn’t even about Fukushima anymore.

It is a cover that misleads people into thinking that somebody in Authority is actually doing something about Fukushima radiation in the US. Basically a cheap fraud.

When Helen Caldicott started her anti-nuclear crusade in 1980, there were 245 nuclear power reactors in the world. In 2011, there were 435 of them. And the world is still in hostage to nuclear weapons, the sword of Damocles still hangs over our heads. Helen Caldicott’s career has been an abject failure. Go away, Helen.

With the constant bombardment of the human organism with external and internal radiation in our time, many diseases are caused, including cancer. These exposures are not just from Fukushima, but Chernobyl, the nuclear bomb test era (which is still making people sick), medical diagnostics and treatments, military uses of depleted uranium, uranium mining, fracking, oil and gas spills, industrial and medical wastes, nuclear dump sites, and nuclear reactors of all types including nuclear power plants. There are many ways are health is being screwed up, our chromosomes and the increasing damage to our genetic integrity in each passing generation.

But there seems to be a general pattern involved in what is being called Fukushima AIDS. The prior post dealt with T-cells in the immune system. These arise from bone marrow, and radionuclides that accumulate in bone marrow and the skeleton are implicated in the general loss of immune system function. But there is a connection between the endocrine and immune systems that are both implicated in Fuku AIDS.

CHRONIC RADIATION SICKNESS (CRS)

The Physicians of Chernobyl website has a downloadable book “Neuropsychiatric Effects of Ionizing Radiation” by Nyagu and Loganovsky. The Soviet and Russian medical literature is much more advanced on the effects of radiation than American literature… in the USA they take your tax money to fund pseudo-scientists who say “radiation is good for you” while you get sick and die.

The radionuclides that enter the skeleton and bone marrow include strontium (89 and 90), cesium (134 and 137), radium-226, and uranium-238. These nuclides also lead to central nervous system damage, along with lead-210 (which accumulates in tissue). Iodine (131 and 133) attacks the thyroid, kidneys, and hypophysis (pituitary) and causes havoc with the endocrine system. Strontium (89 and 90) accumulates on the lens of the eye and causes strontium cataracts. Radium and plutonium collect in eye pigment cells. Eye damage is a characteristic of chronic radiation sickness (CRS).

From the book chapter: In osteotropic radioactive substances chronic incorporation the central nervous system irradiation occurs from the skeleton. At that the highest tissue doses are received by hypophysis [Sarapultsev I.A. et al., 1972]. The more frequent than in control pituitary tumors genesis is revealed in remote terms after 131 I, 211 At, 90 Sr, 144 Ce, 147 Pm, 106 Ru, 95 Nb, 241 Am, 252 Cf, 239 Pu, 238 Pu radionuclides incorporation [Streltsova V.N., Moscalev U.I., 1964]. Data regarding the hypothalamus-hypophysis-gonads system reaction on internal irradiation are limited to the few number of experimental studies devoted to the gonads functional state evaluation [Moscalev U.I., 1989].

The Yablokov Chernobyl book cites research indicating prolactin levels were elevated in Chernobyl liquidators. Increased levels of prolactin is central in the genesis of inflammation and autoimmune disease, as well as disorders such as hypogonadism and osteoporosis. Pituitary tumors (prolactinomas) secrete very large amounts of prolactin. They are associated with exposure to iodine-131, strontium-90, plutonium (238 and 239), and isotopes like ruthenium-106 and cerium-144 that we don’t hear much about, but were and are likely being released in large amounts at Fukushima. There is a negative association between prolactin and dopamine. The dopamine receptors are blocked in this case, and the reward-prediction part of the learning and pleasure-seeking response in the brain is blunted. Keep this in mind when the neuropsychiatric dimensions of chronic radiation sickness is discussed below.

PSYCHOPHYSICAL EFFECTS OF BONE-SEEKING RADIOISOTOPES

The authors go on to discuss in detail the psychophysical effects of radiation exposure to radioisotopes that deposit in bone – strontium, radium, uranium, and cesium (which is deposited in the whole body).

Strontium:Selectively deposited in skeleton (mainly in bone growth zone) especially in pregnancy and lactation; enters foetus through placenta; enters breast milk. Less than 1% is accumulated in soft tissue. Among other symptoms the asthenic-vegetative and osteoalgetic syndromes are described with central nervous system organic damage outcome.

Cesium:Relatively homogeneously distributed in organism. Accumulated in muscles, liver, kidneys, lungs, skeleton, enters foetus through placenta, enters breast milk. Data are available about caesium accumulation in brain… Both with other manifestations of caesium incorporation the asthenic-vegetative and depressive syndromes with outcome in central nervous system organic damage with vegetative polyneuritis are known.

Uranium:Extremely strong protoplasmic poison. Bones are the critical organ. Is also accumulated in parenchymal organs. Uranium intoxication is peculiar with polytropism where in particular the asthenic-vegetative syndrome and vegetative dysfunction, central nervous system organic damage and paralyses are characteristic.

A word about asthenic-vegetative syndrome. “Asthenic” refers to weakness, in general. “Vegetative” refers to a state where a patient shown signs of being awake, but is really unconscious. Like a person in a “vegetative state” is not brain-dead, but cannot function as a human being because he/she is really unconscious.

So the “asthenic-vegetative syndrome” refers to a state of physical and psychological weakness, in which a person is in a state somewhere between full wakefulness and sleep. This is about as succinct a description of Fukushima AIDS as is possible to make.

ASTHENIC SYNDROME AND CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME (CFS, CFIDS)

The book “Acupuncture Physical Medicine” by Mark Seem has a section on “The Psychologization of Exhaustion”. The turn-of-the-century French philosopher Pierre Janet developed a theory of psychological force, referring to the quantity of an individual’s psychic energy, and his ability to utilize it.

He chose the term “asthenic syndrome” to describe the conditions manifested by an insufficiency of psychological force, the main consistent symptom being a profound lassitude that increased after any effort and decreased after rest. Janet developed a three-part theory of these asthenic syndromes which bears a remarkable resemblance to the modern definition of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

The first type of asthenic syndrome was mild in nature. The patient was dissatisfied with himself, was unable to experience happiness or pleasure, and became easily anxious or depressed. Aware of this tendency to tire easily, such patients avoided all effort or initiative, shied away from social interactions, and hence were experienced by others as dull or selfish. They tended to restrict their interests and feelings and to be suspicious of others, thus giving enormous attention to things that others would consider of no importance.

The second type of asthenic syndrome was more social in nature. These patients felt a sense of void, finding things of the world, other people, even their own personalities empty.

The third type of asthenic syndrome referred to patients so severely weakened by their condition that they were unable to maintain steady jobs or any sustained activity.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) definition could be applicable to the assessment of the medical aftermath of radioecological disasters and to investigate a possible psychophysiological basis of fatigue in Chernobyl accident survivors. One hundred randomly selected clean-up workers of the Chernobyl accident who presented with complains of fatigue were examined neuropsychiatrically using MMPI profiles, Quantitative Electroencephalography (QEEG) and Somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP). Twenty-six percent of them met the CFS diagnostic criteria. Their absorbed radiation doses were less than 0.3 Sv, an exposure level that is not expected to produce a clear deterministic radiation effect. Clinical symptomatology included persistent fatigue, odd skin sensations, bizarre feelings in bones, muscles and joints, irritability, headache, vertigo, pain in the chest area, emotional lability, irritability, lack of concentration and memory, cognitive deterioration, depression signs and sleep disorders. Liquidators with CFS had the characteristic MMPI profile with increased hypochondria, depression, clear hypochondria, schizophrenia, hysteria, psychasthenia, and bizarre sensory perception scales… Thus, “Vegetative-Vascular Dystonia” and “Osteoalgetic Syndrome” cases following exposure to ionizing radiation as a result of the Chernobyl accident can be classified as CFS cases. The psychophysiological basis of fatigue in liquidators consists of dysfunction of the cortico-limbical structures of the left, dominating, hemisphere. CFS is one of the most important consequences of radio-ecological disaster, which results from an interaction of different hazardous environmental factors.

Yablokov et al. later added, “A total of 26 out of 100 randomly selected liquidators who suffered from fatigue met the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) diagnostic criteria. CFS may therefore be one of the most widespread consequences of the catastrophe for liquidators… Moreover, although CFS incidence decreased signiﬁcantly… (after 10 years), the frequency of occurrence of metabolic syndrome X (MSX—a group of risk factors for heart disease) increased signiﬁcantly…during the same period… CFS and MSX are considered to be the ﬁrst stages in the development of other pathologies, and CFS can transform into MSX neurodegeneration, cognitive impairment, and neuropsychiatric disorders.”

CFS is characterized by incapacitating fatigue (experienced as profound exhaustion and extremely poor stamina) and problems with concentration and short-term memory. It is also accompanied by flu-like symptoms such as pain in the joints and muscles, unrefreshing sleep, tender lymph nodes, sore throat and headache. A distinctive characteristic of the illness is post-exertional malaise, a worsening of symptoms following physical or mental exertion occurring within 12-48 hours of the exertion and requiring an extended recovery period.

The symptoms of CFS are highly variable and fluctuate in severity, complicating treatment and the ill person’s ability to cope with the illness. Most symptoms are invisible, which makes it difficult for others to understand the vast array of debilitating symptoms with which people with the illness must contend…

Below we present the CRS clinical pattern statement (mainly of neuropsychiatric components) based on its classical description by N.A. Kurshakov (1963).

The first (mild) degree of CRS starts gradually. Sometimes exposed persons consider themselves completely healthy and the disease is revealed accidentally in planned clinical examination. At that the blood alterations or neurological symptoms are the most characteristic being the earliest signs of rising pathology. Neurovisceral regulation alteration is the nervous system reaction earliest form. Complaints on headaches in cranium various parts appear — most often in frontal one. They rise and increase in strain and emotional experiences. Sometimes headache became of migraine type. Dizziness, nausea, darkening in eyes in position change are observed. Patient became more and more irritable, quickly becomes tired, working capacity is noticeably decreased. Patient is troubled with sleeping disorders. Asthenic syndrome is revealed objectively with emotional instability, marked memory decrease and elevated fatiguability.

Pains in bones, joints and muscles are characteristic. Osteoalgetic syndrome is especially pronounced in case of osteotropic radionuclides deposition. Pains are more intensive in warmth and in repose relieving in movements. Vibration sensitivity is usually depressed whereas superficial sensitivity types are damaged slightly…

Now the symptoms widen and get more severe. Untreatable headaches, exhaustion, lack of appetite, sleepiness or insomnia, dizziness, sensation of weight or emptiness in the head, inability to endure mental strain. Substantial memory loss, excessive irritable weakness and rapid fatiguability lead to disability. Rapid heartbeat, chills, fever, cold extremities, sleepiness, insomnia, hair loss, loss of weight or obesity occurs. Deterioration is followed by improvement, which is followed by worse deterioration, a vicious cycle. Bone pain gets worse if bone-seeking radionuclides involved.

In the third (severe) degree of CRS the pathological symptomatic furthermore spread and deepening is observed. In this form the striking discrepancy can take place between satisfactory self-feeling and threatening objective signs. Symptomatic corresponds to the described above but is peculiar with higher expression.

Central nervous system organic damage is characteristic here. Neurological disorders are mainly of diffuse pattern. Alterations are peculiar with pathological symptoms stability. In rare cases the pathological events partial regress can be observed but in majority of cases the steadfast progressing to deterioration is observed. Sometimes the process undulating course is marked with remissions and exacerbations. Central nervous system diffuse injury is rising through the demyelinating encephalomyelitis (diffuse encephalomyelosis) or toxic encephalitis type with preemptive involvement of mesencephalon and diencephalon. Funicular myelosis signs are observed. Reflex, locomotive and sensation spheres disorders are revealed objectively… In osteotropic radionuclides incorporation the pain in bones is characteristic both independent one and risen under percussion. Most often this pain is felt in shin bones and sternum. Usually it intensifies in warmth and repose, especially at night. Rough sensation alterations are rare with the exception of severe injuries from radioactive substances incorporated in bones resulting in radiculoneuritic syndrome. The especially severe depression of vibration sensation is described in such cases. Besides that painful sensations appear in body various parts especially in arms and legs distal parts.

Vascular disorders, hypothalamic injury, subarachnoid hemorrhages, further impotency in men and menstrual cycle disorders in women, further blood alterations. “Prognosis is extremely unfavourable.”

FOURTH STAGE OF CHRONIC RADIATION SICKNESS (FINAL)

In this terminal stage the disease with accelerating rate is progressing to the lethal exit. Self-feeling in patients exacerbates, complaints severity rises. Apathy and general weakness rise. Sleep and appetite are deteriorated, dyspeptic disorders appear, head aches and pain in bones become more intensive. In some cases adynamia is so pronounced that patients in all ways long for having rest with any external irritants elimination. Neurological symptomatic described above is exacerbated. Infection diseases are joined defining disease prognosis. Expressed disorders of dystrophic type are revealed in organs and systems. Heart function and vascular tone weakening signs are found. Adrenal failure stipulated adynamia and hypotonia rise in patients.

Small vessel brittleness is increased with their walls permeability elevation leading to the tissue swelling. Vascular disorders are the main factor of haemorrhagic diathesis rise being stipulated by blood system alterations. Haemorrhages appear on body surface (small petechia and larger ecchymoses), mucosa and internal viscera tissues. Haemorrhages are accompanied by trophic bedsores rise and infection-septic focuses. Subarachnoid haemorrhages can take place and more rare — haemorrhages in brain tissue.

Blood indices are especially characteristic here. Bone marrow haemopoiesis sharp depression takes place. Lymphopoiesis is also greatly depressed however usually to the less extent. Leukocyte content can reach down to 0.01–0.1⋅10 9 ⋅L -1 . In severest cases only the single cells are found in smears. Thrombocytopenia is sharply expressed: platelet content goes down to several thousand and even less. Erythropoiesis is altered to the less extent — 1.5 – 2.0⋅10 9 RBC⋅L -1 . Reticulocytosis can still remain. ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) is elevated substantially. Blood coagulation, RBC osmotic resistance in terminal period are lowered. Bone marrow pattern is characterised by its «devastation». Death can occur in haemopoiesis catastrophic collapse and sepsis rise.

More on the role of prolactin, and more info on immune system-related diseases coming up.